A wireless method of connecting to the internet / a LAN using radio waves at microwave and radio frequency.
How Wi-Fi works
An access point (or hotspot) is used to connect to other computers, forming a Wireless Local Area Network. The typical WLAN access point has a range of about 20 meters (65 ft) indoors and a greater range outdoors. Multiple overlapping access points are used to cover large areas e.g. cities or shopping centres. The combination of computer and interface controller is called a station. All stations share a single radio frequency communication channel.
Transmissions on this channel are received by all stations within range.
To connect to a Wi-Fi LAN, a computer has to be equipped with a wireless network interface controller. The hardware does not signal the user that the transmission was delivered and is therefore called a best-effort delivery mechanism. A carrier wave is used to transmit the data in packets, referred to as "Ethernet frames". Each station is constantly tuned in on the radio frequency communication channel to pick up available transmissions.
Bluetooth and WiFi networks signal in the ranges of 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz.
How is it used?
1. The user connects to a WLAN.
The SSID ( Service Set Identifier - In layman's terms, the ID of the WLAN network)
is usually transmitted by WIFI. It is necessary to connect to a network.
The user selects the Encoding used on the WLAN (methods used are: WEP, WPA and WPA2 in order of security)
The user inputs the WLAN password, or bypasses this step if the network is free.
Security
Wi-Fi passwords are frequently cracked by brute force attacks. (Oddly enough, free internet is popular).
Wi-Fi hotspots are often public therefore packets are not encoded or are routed through dodgy networks.This means that private data can be stolen when using an unknown Wi-Fi hotspot.
Advantages and Disadvantages of using WiFi compared to other forms of communication
WiFi
BlueTooth
Infra Red
Stock Antenna range: 32m-90m
Around 10m
Around 10m
Omnidirectional
Omnidirectional
Unidirectional
Penetrates through walls
Penetrates through walls
Does not penetrate through walls
Used for fairly secure and fast transmission of large amounts of data (e.g. laptop accessing internet).
Used for relatively unsecure transmission of small amounts of data (e.g. photo between two smart phones)
Used for directional and unsecured transmission of (very) small amounts of data. (e.g. TV remote)
What is Wi-Fi?
A wireless method of connecting to the internet / a LAN using radio waves at microwave and radio frequency.How Wi-Fi works
An access point (or hotspot) is used to connect to other computers, forming a Wireless Local Area Network. The typical WLANTransmissions on this channel are received by all stations within range.
To connect to a Wi-Fi LAN, a computer has to be equipped with a wireless network interface controller. The hardware does not signal the user that the transmission was delivered and is therefore called a best-effort delivery mechanism. A carrier wave is used to transmit the data in packets, referred to as "Ethernet frames". Each station is constantly tuned in on the radio frequency communication channel to pick up available transmissions.
Bluetooth and WiFi networks signal in the ranges of 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz.
How is it used?
1. The user connects to a WLAN.The SSID ( Service Set Identifier - In layman's terms, the ID of the WLAN network)
is usually transmitted by WIFI. It is necessary to connect to a network.
The user selects the Encoding used on the WLAN (methods used are: WEP, WPA and WPA2 in order of security)
The user inputs the WLAN password, or bypasses this step if the network is free.
Security
Wi-Fi passwords are frequently cracked by brute force attacks. (Oddly enough, free internet is popular).Wi-Fi hotspots are often public therefore packets are not encoded or are routed through dodgy networks.This means that private data can be stolen when using an unknown Wi-Fi hotspot.
Advantages and Disadvantages of using WiFi compared to other forms of communication